I Just Submitted Two Sessions For The Annual CUE Conference

Over the last few years I have presented at pretty much every regional CUE conference in central California; from the SV, CC, CV and Fall CUE events to the CUE Rockstar Teacher Tech Camp, I’ve lead sessions on saving IT costs, how to start a podcast and using Google Apps in the classroom to name just a few. Up until this year however, I had never considered submitting a session for the Annual CUE conference in Palm Springs (the so called “mothership”). Well, for whatever reason I decided to submit two at the last minute. Of course I forgot to save the outlines before submitting, but they go something like this:

The Future of EdTech is Free is an idea that flows from an article I submitted to the November/December issue of the ACSA Leadership Magazine. This presentation will take a hard look at where districts spend their limited technology dollars today and how they might utilize cloud solutions and free and open source alternatives to direct dollars away from the server room and into the classroom. Schools are going to have to get more technology into classrooms to support common core instruction. The idea that dedicated funds are coming to help with this is wishful thinking. Taking a different approach to IT is something districts can start doing now to prepare for the coming common core.

In Chromebooks, Netbooks and iPads, Oh My! my thought is to address the different options school districts have when looking at student technology. The days of the fixed computer labs are numbered but with so many alternatives out there, how is a district to know which is the right device for them? I’m hoping to be able to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the top three devices as well as how each might fit into a classroom environment. Moving from traditional windows labs to non-windows mobile devices requires compromise on how schools are used to doing computing. It is important that the decision makers understand these issues before they commit to one platform or the other (or all of the above).

I know there is always fierce competition for session slots but I think both of these sessions relate well to this year’s theme of “CUE To The Core” and offer important information that district leaders need to hear. Now I wait and see if either (dare I think both?) session is chosen. I don’t have time to lose sleep over it though. I’ve got to prepare myself for four presentations at the CETPA annual conference in a week and then for two more sessions at the Fall CUE conference the week after that.

Why do I present? The same reason I podcast and blog. Because I have experiences to share and if other people happen to find it helpful, awesome.